Mini mates jive - bullet discontinued by Rocks Off Ltd. - review by Incendiaire

The Jive is one of six toys in the Mini-Mates line, including the Fever, the Disco, the Twirl, the Fab, and the Funky. The idea behind the range is to incorporate a soft sleeve along with the RO-120mm vibrator, in order to make a more interesting product. The Mini-Mates toys are all primarily aimed at female consumers, but considering the Fever and the Disco were rebranded as the male toys the Missile and the Scud, there's no reason why any of the range can't be enjoyed by a man, especially if you prefer the selection of colours.

The Jive comes in the standard Rocks Off packaging that you might expect. The box is made from a sturdy cardboard and features a hinged lid with a clear-plastic viewing window. The only difference is that all the Mini-Mates toys come in a pastel-pink coloured box, instead of the black used for the RO-160mm and the Bad Boy style prostate massagers. The Jive itself clips into a plastic tray inside the box which is adorned with the company logo, and altogether it provides a nice play to store the toy and keep it away from unwanted dust.

When assembled the Jive is 5 3/4" long, with 4 5/8" being insertable if you take the bottom of the sleeve to be the cut-off point. It's quite a nice girthy toy, measuring 4 7/8" in circumference around the middle. The sleeve has a smooth straight body for the most part, until it reaches the end where it curves upwards and narrows to a point, giving it the appearance of a banana. According to the packaging this feature is intended to stimulate the G-spot, but as is usually the case anything designed with this in mind can be re-purposed for use on the prostate. From the base of the sleeve protrudes one end of the RO-120mm bullet, which is where the screw cap to access the battery compartment and the push-button to turn on the toy are located. The Jive doesn't actually have a flared base which technically means that it isn't anal-safe, though the Scud doesn't have a flared base either despite being advertised specifically as an anal vibrator, so whether you should use it back there or not is debatable.

The sleeve of the Jive is manufactured from a material called IntraMed that Rocks Off have developed specially. It seems to be quite a nice material and has no apparent odour, as well as being non-porous and completely body-safe. The construction of the sleeve appears to be of a high standard also, and while there is a mould line present it's practically invisible and cannot be felt at all when you touch it. In terms of firmness it feels to be about the same as with the silicone that Rocks Off use and doesn't have a lot of give in it, but compared to the rigid vibrator that it's covering it offers a welcome amount of cushioning. The finish is matte and velvety, and I much prefer it to the slightly rough-feeling surface of the Bad Boy.

Inserting the Jive is very simple thanks to its tapered tip which gently makes a path for the rest of the toy, and which also makes it quite suitable for an anal beginner. The Jive slips in seamlessly, avoiding any unpleasant friction, thanks to the smooth surface of the material. The outside of the sleeve is supple enough to feel comfortable against the sphincter muscle if you clench down on the toy either by choice or otherwise. The girth of the toy feels nice and satisfying inside; it's not going to stretch you out but there is a pleasant feeling of something sizeable being there. Once the toy is inserted fully there's unfortunately not a lot to grab onto so you need to be careful. Thrusting with the toy is an enjoyable experience, but the downside is with the lack of length which makes it difficult to manipulate. When thrusting I was hard pressed to notice any prostate stimulation from the curved tip unless I specifically attempted to angle the Jive upwards and into that region, but again this was difficult to achieve with so little to grab onto near the base. Compared to the other toys in the Mini-Mates range the Jive is definitely the one best suited for use on the prostate, but still in my experience it just didn't deliver.

The vibrating function in the Jive is created by the RO-120mm bullet. The bullet is powered by 2 AAA batteries and has three different speeds along with two patterns of vibrations to choose from. The first pattern is a rapid sequence of pulses, and the second is a slower one. The bullet is operated by pushing the button on the base once to turn it on, again to change the function, and by holding it down for a couple of seconds to switch it off. You need to be careful when doing this while the toy is inserted, in case you push the button too hard and the toy slips deeper into the body than is desirable. The silicone sleeve of the Jive has the unique property of helping to focus the vibrations from the bullet so that they can be felt most strongly around the tip, thereby improving its performance. Unfortunately the vibrations from the RO-120mm are of a very shallow buzzy nature, and I don't enjoy these types of vibrations anally. Even with the help of the sleeve to focus the vibrations around the tip they just didn't penetrate into the prostate in a way that elicited any pleasurable sensation. All that I could really feel when the vibe was switched on was a general tingling in the vicinity, and changing the speed or pattern didn't help either. The only real indicator that I was using a pattern came from the change in sound from the toy, as physically the feeling didn't change significantly. If it had been a rumbly vibrator then it might well have been enjoyable, but sadly that wasn't the case. One positive about the RO-120mm though is that it's actually quite quiet whilst it's inside the sleeve, and I would feel comfortable using it while someone was in an adjacent room, as it's unlikely that they could hear it.

The entire toy is completely waterproof, hence it's safe to use it in the bath or shower, but the real benefit is when it comes to cleaning it. If you so wish you can remove the sleeve before you wash it, but this is difficult to do at the best of times, let alone when the toy is covered in lube. The bullet fits so snugly inside the sleeve that it forms a vacuum, and it takes an awful lot of tugging and twisting to try to remove it. The best thing to do is just clean it all together in one piece. The IntraMed material can be cleaned by regular methods such as antibacterial soap and hot water, toy cleaner/wipes, or by wiping it down with a 10% bleach solution.